


Succulent

by Raelynn



Series: One Word Prompts [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Perhaps the start of something
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-02-23
Packaged: 2018-05-22 21:24:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6094447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raelynn/pseuds/Raelynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One Word Prompt from AfterIWake:  Succulent</p>
            </blockquote>





	Succulent

**Author's Note:**

  * For [afteriwake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/gifts).



Molly set the small planter on a shelf just above her desk, and took a step back. The tiny plant in its little planter looked adorable nestled between the mug her cousin sent her when she visited New York City and the stack of vintage anatomy textbooks she’d been collecting since university.

Smiling, she sat down at her desk, determined to make a huge dent in the backlog of paperwork she found herself faced with. Perhaps it would be a quiet morgue shift, with a minimum of bodies to come in and need her attention. One could always hope.

An hour later, she was interrupted by the door to her office opening. She glanced to her left and saw Sherlock Holmes standing in the doorway. “Slow night?” he inquired.

She shrugged. “Slow in the morgue. Plenty going on in here.”

Sherlock stepped in, tossing his Belstaff over the chair in the corner. He walked over, standing behind Molly. The new addition to the office caught his eye. 

“New plant?”

Molly glanced up at it. “Yup. It’s a sempervivum.”

Sherlock squinted, thinking. “From the Latin: Sempervivus. Ever-living.”

Molly cocked her head to the side. “Well, it is a succulent, after all.”

“Hmmm,” Sherlock said, leaning over Molly to touch it with one long finger. “Hard to kill. Reminds you of anyone?”

Molly looked up, her eyes meeting the Detective’s for the first time. “Maybe. But plants don’t go to so many efforts to put themselves in harm’s way.”

Sherlock dropped his hands, looking down at Molly. “I thought I was going to die, you know. I was going to die.”

Molly hummed in agreement, then picked up her pen again. “Rehab went well, then?”

Sherlock shrugged, walking over to the chair he’d dropped his Belstaff in, and sitting down. “It did the job.”

“You scared the hell out of John,” she said, turning to face him.

“Just John?” he said, baiting her.

Molly rolled her eyes. “Just John. I didn’t have to see you like that. I moved right into anger.”

Sherlock nodded. “Well, I’m sorry. John’s heard it from me, and now I’m here to tell you. I honestly thought I was doing myself a favor by going out on my own terms.”

Molly sighed, “Well, at least it wasn’t fatal.”

Sherlock was quiet for a moment, and Molly went back to her paperwork. After a few moments, he spoke.

“Can I make it up to you?”

Molly froze, pen in the air. “Yes, by staying clean. People need you. Your brother needs you. Your parents need you. John and Mary and the baby need you.”

She started writing again. “I need you,” she said under her breath.

Sherlock stood and walked back over to her, his hands coming to rest on the back of her chair. She tilted her head up, looking at him.

“Molly Hooper, you have never once needed me. Wanted me, certainly. But you...you don’t need me.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but Sherlock shushed her. “And that’s one of your greatest strengths, you know that, right? Lots of people put up with me because they need me. You...you do it because you want to.”

He leaned down, placing a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth. “Don’t think that doesn’t mean the world to me.”

Before she could come up with a response, he’d grabbed his Belstaff and was in the doorway. “See you soon, Molly Hooper.”

Molly watched the door close behind him, and stared at it for a long time after.


End file.
